Between various leaks and promotional websites, the next entry in the Assassin's Creed series wasn't exactly a secret. However, today Ubisoft officially announced Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, a continuation of the saga with new features, characters, and a story chronicling another chapter in the life of Ezio Auditore.

Brotherhood will be set in the city of Rome, where players can expect about 15 hours of new adventures that involve striking at the heart of the Templar order.  However, instead of the usual solo gig, Ezio will be recruiting and leading a team (one might even call it a "brotherhood") of assassins. These characters may assist players on a mission directly, but they can also be deployed to different parts of Rome. A few old allies will be showing up as well, including Caterina Sforza and Leonardo.




It also appears that a variation of the Villa-building in Assassin's Creed II will be making a reappearance in Brotherhood. You'll be able to invest your money in the crumbling districts of the city, getting the citizens on your side and gaining the allegiance of factions. Collecting art for you home and improving the surrounding town was one of the most engaging aspects of the last entry, so it's exciting to consider how the team will expand upon it.

So far, the most talked-about new feature in Brotherhood is the addition of a multiplayer feature. Assuming the roles of Templars-in-training, players will square off against other players using a variety of classes and signature weapons. How you'll utilize these classes and weapons is still a mystery; Ubisoft is currently only specifying that the multiplayer will have "different game modes."

Another hazy element is exactly how Brotherhood fits in with the series' larger mythology. Ubisoft hasn't clarified how (if at all) Ezio's continuing story in Renaissance Italy correlates to the near-future conflict involving Desmond Miles and Abstergo. Without spoiling the ending of Assassin's Creed II, it's safe to say that Ezio's role in the generation-spanning conspiracy seems to be complete, so I wouldn't be surprised if Brotherhood were set entirely in the past, with Desmond, Lucy, and Vidic not making appearances at all.

The team behind the game still has plenty of time to roll out the details, but we won't have to wait too long to play it. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will be hitting store shelves this holiday season – just a year after Assassin's Creed II, which means that your assassination skills won't be too rusty when Ezio takes to the rooftops again.